Improving the National Political Dialogue Begins With Us -- The People

I strongly support efforts which encourage our elected representatives to seek common ground and bipartisanship -- toward consensus, cooperation, and compromise. I have even founded my own movement, the

C-Party Solution, for this purpose. Yet, I have come to realize that there is a deeper problem.

“We have met the enemy and he is us,” said Walt Kelly in 1970. How true this remains today.

10 Costly Programs Congress Should Cut from the Budget

In today's congressional atmosphere, suggesting ten costly programs that could be reasonably cut from the budget is analogous to placing warring siblings in a room with one toy and expecting them to cooperate.However, .

Obvious areas such as the morbidly obese defense budget and the contentious NSA surveillance programs are not listed here as the siblings just aren't ready for such a task, but here are ten things both sides could reasonably find common ground on:

How to Argue with a Friend

“Disagreement is critical to the well-being of our nation. But we must carry on our arguments with the realization that those with whom we disagree are not our enemies; rather, they are our colleagues in a great enterprise. When we respect each other enough to respond carefully to argument, we are filling roles necessary in a republic.”—Judge Thomas B. Griffith, “The Work of Civility."

Human beings are really good at fighting with enemies.

Moderates Need to Unite to Change the Status Quo

For the last few years, we have seen the stories and blog posts about the split in the Republican Party. It's the Tea Party versus the establishment, vying for control of the GOP.  Many independent and third party voices say this is what the political middle needs to finally get a foothold in the political process; this is the opportunity needed to win some seats at the table, join the debates, and change the status quo. However, this may not be possible because the middle is split too.